Closure latch



Feb. 6, 1968 Filed Sept. 14, 1966 J. D. LESLIE CLOSURE LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ZZ 445' I 5e Z s Mil Q: 2"

11 INVENTOR.

ATTORNE J. D. LESLIE CLOSURE LATCH Feb. 6, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 14, 1966 .lllllll QQE INVENTOR. vi? [es 1'6 J5me:

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiflce 3,367,699 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 3,367,699 CLOSURE LATCH James 1). Leslie, Birmingham, Mich, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 579,279 9 Claims. (Cl. 292-316) This invention relates to closure latches and more particularly to an improved wedge or shoe for vehicle body door locks.

conventionally, vehicle body door locks have included a slidable wedge for engaging a striker member on the body when the door is closed to wedge the striker into engagement with the latch bolt and thereby locate the door vertically within the body opening and also restrain relative movement between the door and body.

The wedge has a guiding surface slidably moving relative to a guiding surface of the lock frame and a wedging surface located for engagement by the striker member. The guiding surface is located either parallel or slightly angularly to the mean or desired swing line of the door. If the latch bolt and striker member should move relatively to each other along a swing line outside the permitted tolerance range of swing lines, it is possible for the guiding surface of the wedge to bind against the guiding surface of the lock frame and increase door opening and closing effort or damage the wedge. Further, manufacturing tolerances somelimes require a swing line tolerance range greater than that which can be obtained through the use of slidable wedges.

The wedge of this invention differs from such wedges in that it is rotatably mounted on the lock frame for movement independently and oppositely of movement of a roiatable latch bolt. The wedge is constrained between the bolt and the lock frame so that only shear forces act on the pivotal mounting of the wedge rather than any bending forces. The wedge is spring biased in the direction of approach of the striker and is arranged with respect to a striker receiving throat of the bolt whereby the striker enters the bolt throat and starts to rotate the bolt toward latched position before the striker engages the wedge. The wedge forces the striker member within the bolt throat as the wedge rotates oppositely of the bolt and the bolt moves to latched position. The wedge of this invention permits a wide swing line tolerance range to be set and yet have the wedge engage and follow the striker member.

One feature of this invention is that it provides an improved rotatable wedge for vehicle body door locks. Another feature is that the wedge rotates oppositely of a rotatable latch bolt when both are engaged by a striker. A further feature is that the latch bolt and wedge are respectively provided with a striker-receiving throat and a wedging surface conforming to at least a portion of the surface of the striker, the throat and wedge surface providing cooperating means for encircling the striker in the latched position of the bolt. Yet another feature of this invention is that the latch bolt and wedge swing in generally parallel spaced planes. Yet a further feature of this invention is that the latch bolt and wedge engage axially spaced but generally radially oppositely disposed portions of an annular striker. Still another feature of this invention is that the wedge and the latch bolt are spring biased in the direction of approach of the striker. Yet a further feature of this invention is that the latch bolt and wedge are successively engaged by the striker upon relative movement between the latch bolt and striker.

These and other features of the wedge of this invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a vehicle body having a closure latch mounted thereon which embodies a wedge of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 2-2 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the closure latch showing the bolt in latched position;

FIGURE 4 is a partially broken away view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the bolt in unlatched position;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 and showing a modification; and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 77 of FIGURE 6.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body designated generally 10 includes a front door 12 which is swingably mounted adjacent its forward edge 14 on body 10 for movement between a closed position, as shown, and an open position, not shown. A closure latch 16 is mounted within the door 12 adjacent the rearward edge portion thereof for cooperating engagement with a striker mounted on the juxtaposed body pillar to thereby hold the door 12 in closed position. Latch 16 embodies a wedge according to this invention.

The closure latch 16 is the same as that shown and described in the copending application of Lloyd W. Rogers, Jr., Serial No. 546,415, filed April 29, 1966, and assigned to the assignee of this invention. Accordingly, only those details of the latch 16 which are necessary to an understanding of this invention will be particularly described, and reference may be had to the aforenoted application for the other details of the latch.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the latch 16 includes a main plate or frame 18 which abuts the rear wall 20 of door 12 and is secured thereto by a number of bolts which extend through the wall 20 into tapped embossments 22 of the frame 18. An auxiliary plate or frame 24 is located in spaced relationship to the main frame 18 and is secured thereto by a number of lateral tabs 26 which extend laterally of the frame 24 and are staked to the frame 18.

A fork type bolt designated 28 is pivotally mounted on a pin or shaft 30 which extends between the frames 18 and 24 and has its ends secured thereto. A coil torsion spring 32 has one end thereof hooked within a notched lateral tab 34 of bolt 28 and the other end thereof hooked within an opening in the pin 30 to continuously bias the bolt 28 toward its unlatched position as shown in FIGURE 4. The bolt is located in the unlatched position by engagement of the tab 34 with a lateral tab 36 of the plate 24. The bolt 28 includes a striker receiving throat 38, FIGURE 4, and a pair of shoulders 40 and 42 which respectively define the secondary latched and fully latched positions of the bolt. The bolt is held in either the secondary latched position or the fully latched position by engagement of a foot or shoulder 44 of a detent member 4-6 with the respective shoulder. The detent member 46 is pivotally mounted on a pin 48 which extends between the plates 18 and 24. The detent is continuously biased counterclockwise or toward engagement with the bolt 28 by a coil torsion spring 50 which surrounds the pin 48 and has one end hooked within a notched lateral tab 52 of the detent and the other end hooked within an opening in the upper lateral flange 54 of plate 18.

A solenoid operated release means 56 is provided to release the detent member 46. The details of the release means are not necessary to an understanding of this invention and are, therefore, not described. Reference may be had to the aforenoted Rogers application for such details. Further, other means of releasing the detent 46 from 3 engagement with the bolt may be provided in locks ineorporating the wedge of this invention.

The wedge or shoe according to this invention includes a wedge member 58 pivotally mounted on a pin 60 which extends from the plate 24 and is located above the pin '30 and slightly outwardly therefrom with respect to the direction of approach of the striker. The member 58 is preferably formed of nylon to reduce noise and be selflubricating, although it may be formed of other materials.

As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 5, the member 58 includes a pair of integral spaced walls or flanges 6-2 which extend upwardly from the body thereof and define a spring receiving housing. A coil torsion spring 64 surrounds the pin 60 within this housing, with one leg of the spring being hooked over one of the lateral flanges 26 of the plate 24 and the other end of the spring engaging the base wall of the spring receiving housing to continually bias the member 58 counterclockwise or toward the direction of approach of the striker. Member 58 is provided with a shallow arcuate closed end groove 66 having its center at the axis of the pin 60. A lateral tab 68 of plate 24 extends into this groove and the engagement of the tab with the inner end of the groove limits counterclockwise swinging movement of member 58, as shown in FIGURE 4. Ordinarily the tab 68 will not engage the outer end of the groove.

The plate 24 further includes an arcuate embossment or rib 70 which extends inwardly of the plate and has its center at the axis of the pin 60. As shown in FIGURE 2, the inner surface 72 of member 58 is located in close spaced relationship to the outer surface of the bolt 28 while the outer surface of member 58 is in sliding engagement with the embossment 70. The purpose of this is described hereinafter.

The striker 74 includes a conventional headed annular pin or member 76, Member 76 is bolted or otherwise secured to the body pillar 78 located in juxtaposed relationship to the rear wall of door 12 when the door is in closed position. As shown in FIGURE 2, the rear wall 20 of the door and plate 18 are cut away at '79 to provide for entry of the striker within the door and between the plates 18 and 24.

When the door is in an open position, as shown in FIGURE 4, the bolt 28 is located in its unlatched position, foot 44 of detent 46 engages the outer edge of the bolt, and the member 58 is located by the tab 68 and groove 66. When the door is closed, the striker and bolt approach each other along the mean swing line 84, FIGURE 4. The shank 80 of the striker will engage the edge or abutment surface 82 of the bolt and start to swing the bolt counterclockwise toward its secondary latched position against the action of spring 32 as the foot 44 of detent 46 slides relative to the outer edge of bolt 28. As the striker swings the bolt 28 counterclockwise, the shank 80 of the striker will move relative to the edge 82 toward the throat 38. After the bolt has rotated a limited number of degrees, the enlarged head 86 of the striker will engage the edge or abutment surface 88 of the leg 90 of member 58 to start to swing member 58 clockwise about pin 60 as the head 86 moves relative to edge 88. Upon continued closing movement of the door, the shank 88 of the striker will move within the throat 38, between the edge 82, which defines the inboard edge of the throat, and the edge 92, which defines the outboard edge of the throat, while the head of the striker will engage the edge or wedging surface 94 of member 58, which joins surface 88 and another surface 96 provided on an outboard leg 98 of member 58. Surface 94 conforms to at least a portion of the outer annular surface of head 86. When the head 86 engages the surface 94, the shank 80 is located within the throat 38 and the foot 44 of detent 46 engages shoulder 40 of the bolt to retain the bolt in the secondary latched position.

The head 86 engages the surface 94 prior to the en gagement of the detent shoulder 44 with the bolt shoulder 40. When the bolt is in the secondary latched position, the shank of the striker does not engage the base of the throat 38 but is located between the edges 82 and 92 so that it is impossible for the striker to escape from the bolt throat.

Upon continued movement of the door 12 from its partially closed position to its fully closed position, the bolt 28 will rotate counterclockwise from its secondary lafched position to its fully latched position and the shank 80 of the striker pin will move within the bolt throat 38 relative to the edges 82 and 92 which define the throat. The head 86 of the striker will move slightly along the surface 94 of the wedge 58 during this movement of the bolt to wedge the shank 80 tightly against the base of the throat when the bolt reaches its fully latched position. The bolt is retained in this position by the engagement of the foot 44 of detent 46 with shoulder 42.

The shank 80 of the striker can, of course, engage the surface 82 of the bolt at various places when the door is initially closed, depending on the swing line of the door. Although a mean swing line 84 has been indicated in FIGURE 4, it will be understood that the swing line can vary a number of degrees to each side of this swing line, depending, of course, on the buildup of various manufacturing tolerances. Inasmuch as the wedge 58 is rotatably mounted rather than being slidably mounted, the head 86 of the striker can engage the surface 88 of the wedge at various places without binding between the wedge and the pin 60. Thus, the range of possible swing lines which can be used and still have an adequately functioning wedge and bolt is greatly increased. This is one distinct advantage of the wedge of this invention over the conventional sliding wedge.

It will also be noted that in the frilly latched position of the bolt 28, as shown in FIGURE 3, the axis of the striker 74 is located substantially in vertical alignment with the axis of the pin 60 and outboard of the axis of the pin 30. In certain respects, the wedge 58 and the bolt 28 act as toggle members when the door is closed, with the joint of the toggle being the axis of the striker, and the pivotal connection between the members of the toggle being provided by the shank 80 of the striker and the edge 82 of the bolt and by the surfaces 88 and 94 of member 58- and the head 86 of the striker. By locating the axes as shown in FIGURE 3 in the latched position of the bolt, any overcenter action is effectively prevented.

Conventionally, vehicle doors are mounted on a hinge axis so as to swing outwardly and upwardly as the door is opened. It will be noted from the foregoing description that the bolt 28 has its throat 38 opening upwardly and that the wedge or shoe 58 forces the striker pin downwardly Within this throat. Should any forces be applied to the door 12 tending to open the door, such as by a passenger engaging the door 12 from the inside thereof, the tendency of the door to move outwardly and upwardly will result in the shank 80 of the striker being more tightly forced against the base of the throat 38 to thus resist with even more force any movement whatsoever of the door toward open position.

It will be recalled that the inner surface 72 of the wedge 58 is located in close spaced adjacency to the surface of the bolt 28 while the outer surface of the wedge slides on the embossed rib 70. Thus the wedge 58 is effectively trapped between two relatively rigid members so that any forces which are applied to the pin 48 will place this pin in shear rather than in bending. In other words, only vertical forces will be applied, rather than tending to bend the pin relative to its mounting on the plate 24. This increases the strength of the wedge when forces are applied to the door or to the body tending to separate the striker and the bolt in vertical directions.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show a modification and only those details which are different from the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 will be particularly described. In this embodiment of the. invention, the shoe or wedge 100 is the same in size and shape to the wedge 58 and is mounted on a headed pin 102 by means of a metal sleeve 104 and a rubber sleeve 106 which are located between the opening in the shoe and the pin. The wedge 100 rotates relative to the sleeve 104 and the nibber sleeve 106 provides a tolerance take-up which provides limited shifting movement of the wedge radially of the pin 102 if required by manufacturing tolerances or by swing line variations between the pin 102 and the bolt 28 when the door is closed.

The inboard leg 108 of the wedge, which corresponds to the leg 90, is provided with embossments 110 on the inner and outer sides thereof which respectively engage the outer surface of the bolts 28 and the inner surface of the plate 24 to effectively trap the wedge between the bolt and plate. The reasons for this were described in conjunction with the wedge 58.

The wedge 100 includes a laterally extending apertured ear 112. A tension spring 114 is hooked between ear 112 and one of the tabs 26 of plate 24 to bias the wedge 100 counterclockwise of the pin 102. The wedge is located by the engagement of the outboard leg 98 thereof with another of the tabs 26 of the plate 24. The wedge 100 functions in the same manner as the wedge 58 previously described.

Thus, this invention provides an improved wedge arrangement for vehicle body door locks.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle body having a closure member mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions with respect to a body member, a closure latch, comprising, in combination, a support mounted on one of the members, a latch bolt rotatably mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, a striker mounted on the other of the members, the bolt including an abutment surface located in the path of travel of the striker upon relative movement of the members and merging into a striker receiving bolt throat, wedge means independently rotatably mounted on the support, the wedge means including an abutment surface merging into a wedging surface, relative movement of the members moving the striker into engagement with the bolt abutment surface and the wedge means abutment surface, the striker moving relative to the bolt abutment surface and into the bolt throat as the bolt moves to latched position and moving relative to the Wedge means abutment surface and into engagement with the wedge means wedging surface to retain the striker within the bolt throat in the latched position of the bolt.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the wedge means and the latch bolt move in generally parallel planar relationship.

3. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the wedging surface of the wedge means conforms to at least a portion of the surface of the striker.

4. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the abutment surfaces of the wedge means is located in spaced relationship to the abutment surfaces of the bolt with respect to the direction of relative movement of the members when the bolt is in unlatched position.

5. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the bolt is movable to a plurality of latched positions and the wedge means retains the striker within the bolt throat in each of the latched positions.

6. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the striker includes an annular member, one annular portion of the bolt being received within the bolt throat and an axially spaced annular portion of the striker being engageable with the wedging surface of the wedge means.

7. The combination recited in claim 6 wherein the axially spaced annular portion includes an annular flange on the striker located laterally of the bolt and engageable therewith under lateral forces to provide an interlock,

8. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the wedge means is entrapped between the support and the latch bolt to limit the forces applied to the pivotal mounting of the wedge means to shear forces.

9. The combination recited in claim 1 including means biasing the wedge means in the direction of relative movement of the members and means locating the wedge means in this direction when the bolt is in unlatched position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,074,191 3/1937 Roethel 29234l.l2 X 2,987,336 6/1961 Kramer 292--34l.12 X 3,130,997 4/1964 Kirk 29234l.l2 X

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A VEHICLE BODY HAVING A CLOSURE MEMBER MOUNTED THEREON FOR MOVEMENT BETWEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO A BODY MEMBER, A CLOSURE LATCH, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A SUPPORT MOUNTED ON ONE OF THE MEMBERS, A LATCH BOLT ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN LATCHED AND UNLATCHED POSITIONS, A STRICKER MOUNTED ON THE OTHER OF THE MEMBERS, THE BOLT INCLUDING AN ABUTMENT SURFACE LOCATED IN THE PATH OF TRAVEL OF THE STRIKER UPON RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE MEMBERS AND MERGING INTO A STRIKER RECEIVING BOLT THROAT, WEDGE MEANS INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, THE WEDGE MEANS INCLUDING AN ABUTMENT SURFACE MERGING INTO A WEDGING SURFACE, RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE MEMBERS MOVING THE STRIKER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOLT ABUTMENT SURFACE AND THE WEDGE MEANS ABUTMENT SURFACE, THE STRIKER MOVING RELATIVE TO THE BOLT ABUTMENT SURFACE AND INTO THE BOLT THROAT AS THE BOLT MOVES TO LATCHED POSITION AND MOVING RELATIVE TO THE WEDGE MEANS ABUTMENT SURFACE AND INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WEDGE MEANS WEDGING SURFACE TO RETAIN THE STRIKER WITHIN THE BOLT THROAT IN THE LATCHED POSITION OF THE BOLT. 